Amelia E. Barr

“ IT is during the hungry years of the thirties and forties of the nineteenth century that the great body of Englishmen and Englishwomen reveal themselves most nobly and clearly in their national character. They were years of hunger and strife but it is good to see with what ceaseless, persistent bravery they fought for their ideals year after year, generation after generation, never losing hope or courage but steadily working and waiting for the passage of that great Reform Bill, which would open the door for their recognition at least as members of the body politic. ”

“ The coming and going of many strangers and the restlessness and uncertainty of daily life was a great trial to a family that had lived so many years strictly after its own ideals of reposeful, regular rule and order. Annie, very excusably, was in a highly nervous condition, the squire was silent and thoughtful, and in the evenings too tired to talk. Katherine was eager for more company of her own kind, and just a little weary of Dick’s and Faith’s devotion to each other. ”

“ Jane isn’t anything but kind at heart. It is just her you-shallness that makes her one-sided to live with. But Katherine can hold her own side, without help, she can that! And if thou art bound for London, then London is the place where my heart will be and we will go together.”
“Thou art a good wife to me, Annie.”
“Well, then, I promised thee to be a good wife, and I’m Yorkshire enough to keep a promise—good or bad. I am glad thou art going to the Clarendon. It is a pleasant house but thy sister Josepha is a bit overbearing, isn’t she, Antony?” ”

“ The service was read by a solemn and gracious clergyman, the records were signed in the vestry, and in less than an hour the party was back at Mr. Foster’s house. A simple breakfast for the eight guests present followed, and then Faith, having changed her wedding gown for one of light gray broadcloth of such fine texture that it looked like satin, came into the parlor on her father’s arm. He took her straight to Dick, and once more gave her to him. The tender little resignation was made with smiles and with those uncalled tears which bless and consecrate happiness that is too great for words. ”

“ Then the squire stepped with great dignity to the front of the platform.
“Young men,” he said with an air of reproof, “this is not a political meeting. It is not even a public meeting. It is a gathering of friends to consider how best to relieve the poverty and idleness for which our weavers are not to blame—and we do not wish to be interrupted.”
“The blame is all wi’ you rich landowners,” he answered; “ivery one o’ you stand by a government that robs the poor man and protects the rich. I am a representative of the Bradford Socialists.” ”

“ I am varry much disappointed in thee, Mr. Harry Bradley, and the sooner thou leaves me, the better I’ll be pleased.”
“Oh, Madam, you utterly confound me.”
“Thou ought to be confounded and I would be a deal harder on thee if I did not remember that thou hes no family behind thee whose honor——”
“Madam, I have my father behind me, and a nobler man does not exist. He is any man’s peer. I know no other man fit to liken him to.”
“That’s right. Stand by thy father. And remember that the Annis family hes to stand up for a few centuries of Annis fathers. ”

“ If you are good Church of England men you are all right. She is your spiritual mother, do what she tells you to do, and you can’t do wrong. If you are a Dissenter from her, then keep a bit of Methodism in your souls. It is kind and personal, and if it gets hold of a man, it does a lot for him. It sits in the center. I am sorry to say there are a great many atheists among weavers. Atheists do nothing. A man steeped in Methodism can do anything! Its love and its honesty lift up them that are cast down; it gives no quarter to the devil, and it hes a heart as big as God’s mercy. ”

“ I think, sir, if it would be a grand thing for Jonas Boocock, it might happen be a good thing for Squire Antony Annis. The world is moving for-rard, sir, and we must step with it, or be dragged behind it. ”

“ And all he said in the parlor was something he had never dared to say before, except in dreams.
Faith knew what he wished to say. He had wooed her silently for months, but she had not suffered him to pass beyond the horizon of her thoughts. Yet she knew well, that though they were in many things dissimilar as two notes of music, they were made for each other. She told herself that he knew this fact as well as she did and that at the appointed hour he would come to her. Until that hour she would not provoke Destiny by her impatience. ”

“ Foster come to me with their cases of sorrow and sickness, and I can tell thee a room for all these considerations was one of the necessities of our plans.”
“I hevn’t a bit of doubt of it. But it is too much for thee to manage. Thou art wearying soul and body.”
“Far from it. It is as good and as great a thing to save a soul as it is to make it. I am varry happy in my work, and as Mr. Foster would put it, I feel a good deal nearer God, than I did counting up interest money in London.”
In the meantime the home life at Annis Hall was not only changed but constantly changing. ”

“ They knew them to be of the same class and kidney, as fought with Cromwell, Drake, and Nelson, and which made Wellington victorious; they knew that neither the men who wielded the big hammers at the forges of Birmingham, nor the men who controlled steam, nor the men that brought up coal from a thousand feet below sight and light, nor yet the men who plowed the ground would hesitate much longer to fight for their rights; for there was not now a man in all England who was not determined to be a recognized citizen of the land he loved and was always ready to fight for. ”

“ Force is in daily life all that powder is to shot. If our weavers’ wives hed more force in their characters, they wouldn’t watch their children dying of hunger upon their knees and their hearths, they would make their stubborn men go to any kind of a loom. They wouldn’t be bothering themselves about any Bill in Parliament, they would be crying out for bread for their children. We must see about the women and children to-morrow or we shall not be ready for Faith Foster’s visit. ”

“ Harry had found few opportunities to address her, none at all for private speech, yet both Katherine and Harry were satisfied. For every pair of lovers have a code of their own and no one else has the key to it.
In a short time Harry reappeared in a very dudish walking suit, but Wade and Delaney were not ready to separate and the squire was hard set to hide his irritability. Harry also looked too happy, and too handsome, for the gentlemen’s dress of A. D. 1833 was manly and becoming, with its high hat, pointed white vest, frock coat, and long thin cane, always carried in the left hand. ”

“ Now balls are so common and so natural an expression of humanity that they possess both its sameness and its variability. They are all alike and all different, all alike in action, all different in the actors; and the only importance of this ball to Katherine Annis was that it introduced her to the mere physical happiness that flows from fresh and happy youth. ”

“ Through all this broken conversation, however, Harry was wondering how he could manage to leave the coach with Katherine. If he could only see Lady Jane, he knew she would ask him to remain, but how was he to see Lady Jane and what excuse could he make for asking to see her? It never struck the young man that the squire was desirous to get rid of him. He was only conscious of the fact that he did not particularly desire an evening with Katherine’s father and mother and that he did wish very ardently to spend an evening with Katherine and Lady Jane ”

“ They dare not for their lives try any more such foolishness,” said Josepha Temple with a passion she hardly restrained. “Just let them try it! The people will not allow that step any more! Let them try it! They will quickly see and feel what will come of such folly.”
“Well, Josepha, what will come of it? What can the people do?” ”

“ He had been very wise and prudent about Faith and one smile from her had shattered all his reasoning, and the love-light now in his eyes, and shining in his face, was heart-work and not brain work. For love is a state of the soul; anger, grief and other passions can change their mental states ”

“ Neither spoke for a few minutes, then Kitty lifted her cape and bonnet and said, “I am tired, mother. I think I will go to my room.”
“Varry well, but answer me a few questions first. What do you now think of Dick’s fancy for Faith?”
“It is not a fancy, mother. It is a love that will never fade or grow old. He will marry Faith or he will never marry.”
“Such sentimentality! It is absurd!”
“Dick thinks his love for Faith Foster the great fact of his life. He will never give her up. Her ways are his ways. He thinks as she thinks. He would do anything she asked him to do. ”

“ Whenever he thought of Faith, of her innocence, her high hopes, her pure eyes, and flowerlike beauty, he felt that his feet were on a rock and his soul went after her and everything was changed in his life. ”

“ In everything she exceeds. If she likes anyone, she is unreasonable about them; if she dislikes them, she is unjust.”
“I doan’t call that much of a fault—if thou knew anything about farming thou would make little of it. Thou would know that it is the richest land that hes the most weeds in its crop. The plow and the harrow will clear it of weeds and the experience of life will teach Katherine to be less generous with both her feelings and her opinions. Let her overdo, it is a fault that will cure itself.” ”

“ Then Harry seized the opportunity that came with the rise of Katherine to offer his arm and lead her to their former seat on the sofa leaving De Burg to the society of Leyland and his wife. He had come, however, to the conclusion that Katherine was worthy of further attentions, but he did not make on her young and tender heart any fixed or favorable impression. For this man with all his considerations had not yet learned that the selfish lover never really succeeds; that the woman he attempts to woo just looks at him and then turns to something more interesting. ”

“ It is all of twenty-seven years since Antony married thee.”
“It is not Antony. Antony has not a fault. Not one!”
“I am glad thou hes found that out at last. Well, the carriage is waiting and I’ll bid thee good-bye; and I hope thou may get thysen all together before to-morrow at this time.”
With these words Josepha went and Annie threw herself into her chair with a sense of relief. “I know she intended to stay for dinner,” she mentally complained, “and I could not bear her to-night. She is too overflowing—she is too much every way. I bless myself for my patience for twenty-seven years. ”

“ Thou can drop the word ‘courage,’ and opportunity will do for a reason. I niver knew Dick Annis to be afraid of a girl but if thou art really afraid of this girl—let her go. It is the life of a dog to live with a woman that you fear. ”

“ Josepha was Annis. She was the sister of their squire, she was a very handsome woman, and she had thought it worth while to dress herself handsomely to meet them. She was known to every woman in the village, but she had never become commonplace or indifferent. There was no other woman just like her in their vicinity, and she had always been a ready helper in all the times of their want and trouble. ”

“ No girl ever knew better just what she wanted and no girl ever more effectually arranged matters in such wise as would best secure her all she wanted. About Harry Bradley she had not given way one hair’s breadth, and yet evidently her father was as far as ever from bearing the thought of Harry as a son-in-law. His kindness to him in the weaving shop was founded initially on his appreciation of good work and of a clever business tactic and he was also taken by surprise, and so easily gave in to the old trick of liking the lad. ”

“ For opportunities do not wait, they are always on the wing. Their offer is “take or leave me,” and so it is only the alert who bid quick enough.
After a pleasant, though fatiguing drive, they reached Annis village. Their carriage was waiting at the coach office for them, and everyone lifted his cap with a joyful air as they appeared. The squire was glad to see that the caps were nearly all paper caps. It was likely then that many of his old weavers were waiting on what he had promised in his speech to them. ”

“ Bass makes a man stout, and thou art now just the right weight; an ounce more flesh would spoil thy figure and take the spring out of thy step and put more color in thy face and take the music out of thy voice; but please thy dear self about thy eating; perhaps I am a bit selfish about thy good looks, but when a woman gets used to showing herself off with a handsome man she can’t bear to give up that bit of pride.”
“Well, then, Annie dear, whativer pleases thee, pleases me. Send for number five, and order what thou thinks best.”
“Nay, Antony, thou shalt have thy own wish. ”

“ Jonathan fairly shouted, as soon as we stood on it. ‘Squire,’ he said, ‘here’s a mill site in ten thousand. There cannot be a finer one found in England, and it is the varry bit of land that man Boocock wanted—and didn’t get as tha knows?’ Now I must write to Josepha, and tell her to come quickly and see it. She must bring with her also her business adviser.”
“Does tha reckon to be under thy sister?”
“Keep words like those behind thy lips, and set thy teeth for a barrier they cannot pass. We are equal partners, equal in power and profit, equal in loss or gain.” ”

“ Now, when you go to the wonderful new loom that hes been invented for you, and work it cheerfully, you’ll get your Bill, and all other things reasonable that you want.”
“The Parliament men are so everlastingly slow, squire,” said an old man sitting almost at the squire’s feet.
“That is God’s truth, friend. They are slow. It is the English way. You are slow yoursens. So be patient and keep busy learning your trade in a newer and cleverer way. I am going to bide in London till Parliament says, Yes or No. Afterwards I’ll go back to Annis, and learn a new life.” ”

“ And I want thee to know if tha doesn’t already know, that this new disease, that no doctor understands or ever saw before, hes reached London. It came to Bristol while the city was burning, it came like a blow from the hand of God, and every physician is appalled by it. A man goes out and is smitten, and never comes home again, and—and—oh, Annie! Annie! I cannot bear it! There will be-some tragedy—and it is for thee and Kitty I fear—not for mysen, oh no! ”

“ Thou shouldn’t do it. Jane will alter that. Jane will tell her how to rate men and women. Jane is varry clever.”
“Jane is no match for Katherine. Dost thou think Antony Annis will be?”
“I wouldn’t doubt it.”
“Then don’t try conclusions with her about Harry Bradley, and happen then thou may keep thy illusion. Katherine’s fault is a grave one, though it often looks like a virtue.”
“I doan’t see what thou means. Faults are faults, and virtues are virtues. ”

“ Then Dick noticed the china and said his mother had a set exactly like it and Mr. Foster answered—“I think, Mr. Annis, every family in England has one, rich and poor. Whoever hit upon this plain white china, with its broad gold band round all edges, hit on something that fitted the English taste universally. It will be a wedding gift, and a standard tea set, for many generations yet; unless it deteriorates in style and quality—but I must not forget that I am due at Hartley’s at seven o’clock, so I hope you will excuse me, Mr. Annis.” ”